A further 5% owned by an infrastructure investment company from an unknown location

The union has described privatisation of water services as a “scandal” claiming that £6.5 Billion has been paid out in dividends to shareholders in the past five years while UK consumer’s water bills have risen by 40% above inflation since 1989.

The GMB – who are running a campaign to ‘Take back the Tap’ have praised Labour’s Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell for pledging to end “the profiteering of privatised water” and set up a new publicly owned water system that “puts control back in the hands of the people.”

In a Press release Tim Roache, GMB General Secretary called for the re-nationalisation of the water industry saying:

“It is a scandal that the water that falls from England’s skies is in fact now overwhelmingly owned by overseas profiteers.

Every time we turn on the tap, big businesses around the globe are making money at our expense. The spivs and speculators must be laughing at us as they make billions in profits while our water bills go up and leakages go unfixed.”

Earlier this month the Michael Roberts, the Chief Executive of Water UK – the body that represents the UK’s water providers – said that in the 30 years since privatisation water companies had invested over £150 billion in the sector, adding:

“The water industry has come a long way since privatisation in 1989, and customers are now five times less likely to have interrupted water supplies, eight times less likely to suffer sewer flooding, and 100 times less likely to have low water pressure.

The business plans that companies have put forward for 2020 to 2025 propose an extra £50 billion of investment, which would see the service improved even further.”